Ichihime: The First Date
by Romania Black
Summary: Ichigo and Orihime are off on their first date, and a certain Quincy is quite curious as to see how it goes...and maybe put a stop to it! Part One is up! Please Read and Enjoy!


**Hello everyone!** I've been busy teaching and working on other projects. I will get back to my main fan fiction soon! However, recently a DeviantArt user, Tsubasawo, won a contest where I had to write them a fan fiction one-shot. Well, this one shot is quickly turning into a two-to-three parter. It shouldn't be too long though. I hope you all like this! It's been fun to write, but I am rusty on writing romance/comedy this way. Any feedback you have is welcomed!

 **Thank you,**

 **Romania Black**

 ** _Part One:_**

Orihime Inoue had been sitting in the floor of her studio apartment for nearly an hour, staring at a series of menus stretched in front of her knees. She'd pick up one, rub her cheek, run her hand through her copper hair, sigh, then lay the menu down, grab another and repeat the process.

She was so absorbed in her thoughts that it took nearly ten minutes for her to notice Uryu Ishida standing at the main door beside her.

"Uryu!" Orihime jumped backwards, having finally noticed him, her hands flying into the air, the menus scattering around her.

"I'm sorry I startled you," he apologized immediately, taking a step back himself.

Orihime, surprised at first, rocked back on her hands and then caught herself before falling over. She steadied herself back on her knees and let out a quick, breathless laugh, "It's okay! How long have you been standing there?" She stopped to catch her breath.

"I knocked on your door a few times, but you didn't answer. I was about to leave when I heard you muttering something and thought you meant, 'Come on in.' I'm sorry, I should have asked when I opened the door—"

"No, it's okay!" Orihime smiled up at him, "How are you?"

"Fine," the Quincy bent over and picked up one of the menus. "What are you doing, Orihime?" He adjusted his glasses as he looked at them.

"Well, Ichigo asked me which sushi restaurant would be best for us to eat at tonight for our dinner date, and at first I thought Sukiyabashi Jiro would be a good choice, but then Sushi Dai is also—" She stopped mid-sentence when she noticed Uryu's mouth was opened slightly, the menu in his hand sliding halfway towards the floor. "Uryu?"

The Quincy gaped at her, "Ichigo and you…" he hesitated, "Are going on a date?"

This made Orihime blush slightly, her cheeks tinged pink, "Well, he called it a dinner date," Her voice had hushed slightly, "But I'm not sure if he meant it that way." She looked away for a moment, "We're just going to dinner, that's all really."

Uryu swallowed loudly, "Oh, I see. You know," His voice faltered slightly, as if readying to ask an important question, "I'm not doing anything tonight—"

"Oh!" Orihime interrupted him, "I'm sorry! I just realized that you came here to talk to me! What were you going to ask?"

"I," The Quincy hesitated, seemingly thinking about what he was going to say, "It's nothing. I was going to ask you what you were doing tonight, but you seem to have plans—"

"Oh, well," Orihime's face was a bright pink now, "I'm sure it'd be okay for you to come along—"

"No," Uryu stopped her, and held his hand out; the other adjusted his classes, for what felt like the thousandth time that day. "It's okay; I wouldn't want to make your night awkward anyway. "

Orihime gave him a sad smile, "I'm sure you wouldn't have made anything awkward, Uryu."

"In any case," He gripped the knob of the door, "Have a good night, Orihime." And with that, he shut the door behind him, leaving Orihime sitting with her sushi menus scattered at her feet.

Orihime let out an exasperated sigh, and then went back to scanning the menus once more.

Uryu was halfway down the stairwell when he stopped and leaned back against the white wall. He stared up, his eyes boring into what he presumed was Orihime's apartment.

 _Orihime on a date with Kurosaki? Of all the nights to ask her_ … he cursed under his breath. He could go home now, but he knew it would lead to a night of pacing his room and playing loud orchestra music, the likes of which would annoy his father and cause him to reprimand him; something he was not in the mood for in the slightest.

No, he decided, his curiosity was peaked. He had to see this "date" unfurl.

There was a knock on Orihime's door at a quarter past seven. Having just finished brushing her teeth, she jumped out of the bathroom and ran for the door, opening it wide.

Ichigo was dressed in black tight-fitting jeans and a silver button-up shirt with little charcoal-grey paisley cross patterns lining it. The sleeves were rolled up to the elbow, and his hair somehow looked "busier" than usual.

Orihime clapped her hands together, half in genuine cheer and half to help mask the blush creeping along her face. "Hi, Ichigo! Come on in!"

Ichigo nodded and stepped into her apartment. Orihime was in a black tunic shirt that had lots of black lace ruffles on the front. It swished to and fro as she stepped backward into the living area. The shirt ended halfway to her knee, where black tights took over and led down to a pair of spiked dark red ankle boots that matched a crimson bow on the side of her head. Her two sky blue pins were attached on either side of the bow.

"You look nice, Orihime," Ichigo commented, hands stuck in his pockets. She blushed deeper,

"Thank you, Ichigo! You look nice too," She swayed in her step, "Just let me grab my bag and I'll be ready to go."

"Sounds great," Ichigo ran a hand through his hair, "Did you decide on a place to eat?"

"Yes!" Orihime smiled wide, grabbing a red shoulder bag off the kitchen counter. "I decided on the new sushi restaurant that just opened, the Koharu Sushi House. It's only a few miles from here."

"My sisters went there with their friends last weekend," Ichigo opened the door for her as she crossed the living area, "They said it was good."

"Yay! I'm excited," Orihime practically skipped out the door, Ichigo closing it behind her. She swirled around and locked the door, then the two started down the stairwell side by side.

The night seemed to open up around them as they headed down the street. The bright lights of buildings contrasted with the black sky, and the air had a golden glow. Orihime swung her arms at her side whimsically; smiling and laughing as Ichigo recounted his day trying to help his father Isshin fix a patch of their roof.

"The man practically leapt off the building to get the hammer," Ichigo scoffed, his eyes closed in annoyance at the memory. "I swear sometimes he forgets that he's supposed to be a regular human being."

Orihime's smile took up her whole face, "I think your father knows what he's doing; you've been able to hide the fact that your family is supernatural for this long, right?"

Ichigo hadn't pondered that point too much. He shrugged, realizing the obvious, "I guess so."

"Of course," Orihime suddenly wrapped her hand around Ichigo's arm and pointed ahead, "Look! There it is!" Lit up on the edge of the street was a golden arch with cherry blossoms adorning it and several hand-carved twisting dragons. The restaurant was practically glowing from the street.

"Nice!" Ichigo seemed impressed, "That wasn't too far a walk." Orihime nodded in response, beaming.

Shirking in the shadows behind them, bobbing in and out of pedestrian traffic was a man with shiny, rimmed glasses, dark hair, and a navy blue rain slicker over gray slacks. Uryu Ishida was incognito, or at least he thought he was. He felt more like a stalker, but curiosity was getting the better of him as he followed closer and closer behind the pair.

 _They're going to the Koharu House?_ He thought to himself, _Damn, I wouldn't have thought of that._ Clearly Orihime was going all out for this "dinner date."

He was about ten yards behind the pair, when he bumped into a figure that let out a loud " _Oomph_!" and bounced off of him. Uryu, startled, tilted back in his steps, looking at the figure with an apologetic reflex,

"Sorry! I—"

He stopped midsentence to find a woman with bright hot pink hair staring back at him. She was dressed in a bright yellow rain coat with blue polka dots, matching rain boots, a navy blue dress with white lace trim, and white tights. He knew her from pictures, but had never met her before.

"Riruka Dokugamine?" He stammered.

"Uh, yeah!" The girl looked irritated. She raised an eyebrow at him, "And how do you know me?"

"Ichigo told me," He answered absent-mindedly, "What are you doing here?"

"I live near here," She replied, still eyeing him curiously, "And how do _you_ know Ichigo, anyway?"

"We," Uryu didn't know exactly how to word it, "go back a ways."

"Okay, whatever," Riruka rolled her eyes, clearly not interested in extending the conversation, "Nice to meet you—" She stopped and looked at him expectantly.

"Uryu," He replied for her. She quickly nodded her head,

"Thank you. Uryu."

As she turned to walk away, Uryu Ishida realized something. That he was going to have to go into the restaurant to spy on Ichigo and Orihime. And going in alone would seem… _more_ "stalker-ish" than he would like. He also keenly remembered Ichigo telling him that he thought Riruka had a crush on him.

 _Let's test that theory,_ Uryu turned toward Riruka.

"So you just saw Ichigo then?" Uryu called out.

Riruka froze in her tracks, her pink pigtails swaying comically. She spun her head towards him, an act so violently quick that Uryu nearly fell backward in surprise.

"What did you say?" Riruka's magenta eyes were wide and honed in on the Quincy's face.

"Ichigo Kurosaki is about to go into that restaurant," He pointed to the Koharu House, "with a one Orihime Inoue."

Riruka noticed the restaurant, and apprehension dawned on her features, her brows furrowing and eyes casting him a dark glance, "He's with Orihime?"

"On a 'dinner date,'" he air-quoted the word, watching Riruka blanch.

"And—and what?" She mumbled, her neck arching, looking defensive, "Why should I care if Ichigo goes on a date with that orange-haired numb-skull?"

Uryu shrugged, trying to play it cool, "No reason. I was going to follow them out of curiosity, and thought you might like to join me, but—"

"Really?!" Riruka latched onto his arm, a dangerously mischievous grin spreading across her face, "So you were going to spy on them?"

Uryu found the notion of what he was doing suddenly ridiculous and blushing, nearly backed out of the whole thing. However, Riruka squeezed his arm and he saw her face lit up with a devilish gleam.

"That is fantastic! It'll be so much fun! Let's go, Uryu!"

And with that, the two were headed together into the Koharu House sushi restaurant to spy on Ichigo and Orihime's first date.

 **And that's Part One! Part Two, to come soon! Thank you for reading, and I hope you've enjoyed this first part!**

 **Rock, rock on!**

 **Romania Black**


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